Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
Design of Everyday Things (Revised, Expanded)
Design of Everyday Things (Revised, Expanded) | Don Norman
The ultimate guide to human-centered design Even the smartest among us can feel inept as we fail to figure out which light switch or oven burner to turn on, or whether to push, pull, or slide a door. The fault, argues this ingenious-even liberating-book, lies not in ourselves, but in product design that ignores the needs of users and the principles of cognitive psychology. The problems range from ambiguous and hidden controls to arbitrary relationships between controls and functions, coupled with a lack of feedback or other assistance and unreasonable demands on memorization.The Design of Everyday Things shows that good, usable design is possible. The rules are simple: make things visible, exploit natural relationships that couple function and control, and make intelligent use of constraints. The goal: guide the user effortlessly to the right action on the right control at the right time. The Design of Everyday Things is a powerful primer on how--and why--some products satisfy customers while others only frustrate them.
Amazon Indiebound Barnes and Noble WorldCat Goodreads LibraryThing
Pick icon
100%
review
ShaaM
post image
Pickpick

Started it in Jan 2023, Finished in Feb 2024 and in between read like 1800 pages and different novels. Overall it's a book that should be read by every architect, software engineer, tester, designer, ui ux specialist.

review
jen_the_scribe
post image
Mehso-so

I‘m so glad to be done. It was a love/hate relationship. It took forever to finish. Some anecdotes were interesting, & quite a bit that were, honestly, rather dull. This could‘ve been condensed by a lot, it‘s kind of repetitive. However, there were some important points & I did learn a lot. This is ideal for designers, engineers, anyone dealing with the design/manufacturing of any kind of product. Otherwise, it might be a VERY dull read.

blurb
jen_the_scribe
post image

I DNFed this for a while, simply because my coursework was already jam packed with material on the topic of design, that I needed a break outside of that. I‘m back at it now, trying to finish this one before moving onto the newer design books in my TBR pile. It‘s a slow read but I‘ve committed to a chapter a day at least.

blurb
mavey
post image

Hi there my lovely Littens! I'm an Architecture student in the second year of my course, any design or architecture students/architects/designers out here? Great to get to talk with you! Any book recommendations related to design or architecture?

Wesleypaker @mavey Hello There 2y
37 likes1 comment
quote
jen_the_scribe

“…the visceral response is about immediate perception… Great designers use their aesthetic sensibilities to drive these visceral responses. For designers, the most critical aspect of the behavioral level is that every action is associated with an expectation… resulting in satisfaction or relief, disappointment or frustration. The reflective level… is where deep understanding develops, where reasoning and conscious decision-making take place.”

quote
jen_the_scribe

“The brain is structured to act upon the world, and every action carries with it expectations, and these expectations drive emotions… Cognition attempts to make sense of the world: emotion assigns value.”

quote
jen_the_scribe

“Two of the most important characteristics of good design are discoverability and understanding.”

quote
jen_the_scribe

“Good design is actually a lot harder to notice than poor design, in part because good designs fit our needs so well that the design is invisible, serving us without drawing attention to itself. Bad design, on the other hand, screams out its inadequacies, making itself very noticeable.”

8 likes1 stack add
blurb
jen_the_scribe
post image

I believe I mentioned on here before that one of my goals this year is to read more design books (as I‘m studying Graphic Design). One of my instructors recommended this book during a lecture, and I just had to get it…

StaceGhost I read this for a class and loved it! 2y
jen_the_scribe @StaceGhost Good to know! 😊 2y
13 likes1 stack add2 comments
quote
BookishMe
post image
review
ssravp
post image
Pickpick

“Good design is actually a lot harder to notice than poor design, in part because good designs fit our needs so well that the design is invisible, serving us without drawing attention to itself. Bad design, on the other hand, screams out its inadequacies, making itself very noticeable.”

zezeki This book was additional reading for one the classes I was taking! 5y
16 likes1 stack add1 comment
review
PedestalNix
Pickpick

Absolutely fantastic. Anyone who plans to build something to be used by another human should read this. It gives good, useful views on error, the process of goal-directed action, and usability generally.

3 likes1 stack add
quote
PedestalNix

If a design depends upon labels, it may be faulty.

blurb
Martta
post image

Travelling again. This is such a interesting book to read as a designer. It started with the explanation of the difference between designers and engineers. I found it very informative although I still feel like I have no idea how engineers think and get through life in general. 😂 I also like Norman's way of writing.

18 likes1 stack add
blurb
alisahar
post image

This semester's assigned reading.

quote
GoneFishing

Good design is actually a lot harder to notice than poor design, in part because good designs fit our needs so well that the design is invisible, serving us without drawing attention to itself. Bad design, on the other hand, screams out its inadequacies, making itself very noticeable.

KCorter Sounds like something you would like, @acorter. 8y
31 likes4 stack adds1 comment
review
MrBook
post image
Pickpick

This is a paradigm-shifting book; in fact, it's single-handedly created a whole new field: design psychology! I think Steve Jobs & Jonny Ives may have read this, and then went on to make incredible Apple products from it. Seriously. You will see man-made products in a whole new light--one of those once-you-see-it-you-can't-unsee-it moments. And you'll want to become an engineer, lol. Mind-blowing! #PairWith: Miller High Life, bottles up, cold.

Hornsby78 This sounds fascinating! Thanks for the review. 8y
she_barks During my first week at Microsoft (way back in the 90s) I was told this was required reading. It's one of the few "work" books that survived my basement purge. 8y
MrBook @Hornsby78 You're welcome 😁👍🏻! Glad I could be of service ☺️. @she_barks And it was required reading for my website development college class in 2000 😁🙌🏻! 8y
See All 7 Comments
bookwrm526 If you enjoy this you may also like the podcast 99% Invisible 8y
MrBook @bookwrm526 Oh, nice, thank you for the rec! I'll be checking it out 😁😎👍🏻! 8y
bookwrm526 @MrBook let me know what you think! 8y
MrBook Absolutely 😊👍🏻! 8y
134 likes24 stack adds7 comments
blurb
darby3
post image

Current reading.

3 likes2 stack adds